


A Place of Refuge

by nothingeverlost



Series: Storybrooke High [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-26
Updated: 2012-09-26
Packaged: 2017-11-15 02:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/522357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothingeverlost/pseuds/nothingeverlost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When he found Belle standing on his front step, shivering, he pulled her inside.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Place of Refuge

**Author's Note:**

> From a request for bathtime, student!Belle and Teacher!Gold. In the same verse as Her Birthday Present and His Birthday Present

It was after eleven when the ringing of the doorbell pulled Nick from his book. It was rare for anyone to use the doorbell; he didn’t have that many visitors, and certainly there weren’t any fundraisers going around this time of night. To have anyone show up at eleven was downright puzzling. He reached for the cane and limped to the door. 

When he found Belle standing on his front step, shivering, he pulled her inside. A late cold snap had sent the temperatures crashing, and the thin cardigan she was wearing over her dress wasn’t any protection against the weather.

“Love?” He wrapped his arms around her, holding tight, until he too began to shiver. Her skin was like ice.

“I f-f-orgot my keys at h-h-ome this morning. Ruby d-d-ropped me off but Dad’s not…” Her teeth were chattering hard enough that it was hard to speak. For the hundredth time Nick cursed Moe French, the man he’d yet to meet. It was probably a good thing, them not meeting, considering the urge he had to punch the man in the face. Belle wouldn’t like it. It would also be a little hard to explain, given that he was ‘just’ her teacher when the rest of the world was watching.

No one was watching now.

“We need to get you warmed up, love. Can you make it upstairs?” The downstairs bathroom had a cramped shower. His bathroom, which he’d torn out and had redone completely five years ago, had a whirlpool tub.

“I’m ok-k-ay.” She tried to still the shaking, which lasted for no time at all.

“Of course you are.” He led her up to his room, starting the bathwater before turning his attention to her clothing. The cardigan was easy to remove. He couldn’t seem to figure out the dress, though. “I need you to help me out, here. Is there a zipper hiding?”

“It just lifts off.” Her arms were wrapped around her body, but she pried them away, holding them up. Nick tugged the dress up from the hem, peeling the fabric up and over her head, tossing the dress on the floor. Any other time he would pause to admire the perfect skin and flawless form, but now all he saw was the goose flesh.

“You walked all the way here?” he asked, needing something to think about besides the fact that he was undressing her. He unhooked her bra and slid off her panties. While he’d like to claim sainthood he did have to admit to liking the feel of her skin under his fingers. He wished he was touching her for a different reason. 

“Dad forgot to pay the cell phone bill. I would have called.” She held onto his shoulder as she stepped over the side of the tub. The water was only luke warm, but made her skin ache at the sudden change in temperature.

“I’m adding you to my plan. It’s damned dangerous not to have a working phone.” What if she’d been hurt? Or lost? If the weather was any colder she’d be courting hypothermia right now.

“Sweetheart, you can’t.” Despite being the one that was trembling and exhausted, she comforted him with a caress of her hand to his cheek before slipping away to sit in the tub. “I’ll get it turned back on tomorrow, I promise. I just didn’t find the bill in time this month. It’ll be alright, Nick.”

“I’ve never looked forward to the end of a school year so much.” A couple more months, and they could stop being so careful. He could touch her, without waiting to be behind locked doors. He could buy her presents. And he could give her father a well deserved piece of his mind. How could a man with such a perfect daughter do nothing but ignore her and kill himself slowly?

“I’ll miss sitting in class and listening to you lecture.” She leaned back against the side of the tube, her eyes closed. Her body’s shaking had finally calmed.

“Anytime you want you can sit on the couch and I’ll lecture to your heart’s content.” He liked thinking about her being in his house not just now, but in the future. Far in the future, though he hadn’t said anything about it. She was young, and had a whole world to explore. He wasn’t going to try and tie her down like her father did.

“Sometimes I forget to pay attention to the words. I just hear the voice. I _really_ like your voice.” She crossed her legs as he turned on the hot water, raising the temperature from luke to actual warm.

“Well if you promise me that you’ll stop wandering around town at night I might just agree to tell you a bedtime story.” It worried him, the habit she had of wandering at night. Not strictly wandering, he knew, because she had a purpose. He suspected that some nights that purpose was to find her father and bring him home; he hated the thought of her sneaking into seedy bars.

“You want me to stay tonight?” She ignored his request completely, but since she’d opened up her eyes and was beaming up at him he couldn’t seem to remember why that was a problem.

“I’d have you stay every night, if it was possible.” Never had this house felt more like a home then when she was in it.

“Kiss me?” There was a tug on his tie, which now bore watery fingerprints. He stooped down, complying easily. She tasted as sweet as she ever did.

“What was that for?” he asked as he eased a hand through the bathwater. Checking that it was hot enough, of course.

“For worrying. For caring. For understanding me.” She found his hand at the edge of the bath, and covered it with her own. “I love you.”

“And I you, pet.” He added more water, and once he was convinced she was warm he helped her out of the bath, insisting on drying her himself. She was tired, either from the late hour or the cold. After she was dry he found a pair of flannel pajamas and ushered her to his bed. She curled against him as he began the promised story. She fell asleep almost immediately.

He stayed up like a dragon with the most precious treasure to guard.


End file.
